How much money should I dedicate for shopping on a trip to Asia?

I don't want to sound like a smartass and just say "it depends", but that is right.

Anyways, let me tackle this situation from the perspective of an European girl and tell you some things that I have discovered along the way in my trips in Asia.

Shopping time!

My advice is to manage your budget in such a way that you have 20% of your budget put aside on shopping.

1. Retail industry is at it's peak in the Asian countries and that makes it easier to find a very very veryyyy wide range of options. Neverless, don't expect cheap Chinesse stuff..yes, you can also find those, but I think you are looking for something else.

Big brands are largly spread in Asia as the power of purchase of young people has been increasing a lot in the last 10 years and the mobile payments are widelly used. This being said, big brands= big prices. So if you like shopping for high quality items, bring your card with you because you are in the right place.

2. Cosmetics are important in a woman's world. We need them, use them and never seem to have enough of them. But let me tell you some things about the cosmetics industry in Asia:

- Whitening factors are in 90% of the products, as the mentality is to look as white as you can. Me, as an European girl.. I am just looking to get that golden tan... you know what I mean. So, from this perspective, read very carefully the labels of the products... almost all of them have whitening products inside.

- Korean products are everywhere. You might think, yes,,,but Korean products make your skin white, right? Well.. no... they do have amazing masks, which I do recomend to try ar least 1 to convince yourself if they are worthed or not.

-Have space in your luggage because you will buy things. One of the things that I loved in Asia is that you can find all the brands that you need and the quality is very good, so I do recomend to refill your stock is that is what you need.

3. Tech stuff. Let me put this nice and easy for you guys- I am a woman. What does that mean? 70% of the specs on a product mean nothing for me, because I can't understand all that.. I am just interested in the colours and the price. I know.. shocking!!

But jokes aside, Asia is a great place to buy your tech from. In Kuala Lumpur you have an entire mall ( Low Yat- 5 floors!) were you will find everything you need from laptops ( that by the way are more advanced then the ones you find in Europe) , to camera, go pros, phones, drones, etc...everything you can imagine. And this happenes in Bangkok, Singapore, Jakarta.. all the big cities in Asia, and the airports as well. So do not overlook these types of shops because you might get some very good tech on some really good prices.

4. Malls vs Street Markets. It can get a bit confusing, but let me explain it like this- malls are HUGE: they are for big purchases and for entertainment ( brands, tech, cosmetics) and street markets are for food ( yes, I said food and trust me, it is a must try), clothes to wear on the beach, that touristical T-shirt that everyone buys and for cheap souvenirs. You should bargain in the street markets but don't expect the same to happen in the malls- this is just to set the expectation right.

Pavilion Mall in Kuala Lumpur

Street Market in Krabi

Good luck on packing the bags on the return filghts :)